Born and raised in Milford, Massachusetts, William Claflin didn’t move to Newton until later in his life. He worked in his father's shoe manufacturing company, and opened a branch in St. Louis. He eventually returned to Massachusetts, where he remained for the rest of his life. He held strong views against slavery, and when doing business in St. Louis purchased a slave for $800 for the purpose of setting him free.

Claflin transitioned into politics when he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives by the Free Soil Party in 1849 and served in the state legislature for many years, becoming Senate President in 1861. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1868 and served for three consecutive terms.

In 1855, as he was establishing himself as a politician, Claflin bought a house known as “the Old Elms” in Newtonville. There, the hospitality of Claflin and his wife, Mary, reached its pinnacle as a haven of rest for U.S. Senator Charles Sumner and many well-known writers, including Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Greenleaf Whittier.

In the latter part of his life, Claflin returned to business and supported philanthropic activities. Along with his father, Claflin donated funds to purchase land for Claflin University, the historically black, Methodist university in South Carolina. He later served two terms as a U.S. Congressman from 1877 to 1881. He died in 1905 in Newton. Some of the land ended up being donated to the city for athletic fields at what is now Newton North. F.A. Day, whom you heard about earlier, was responsible for funding and creating a stadium.

New England Magazine that same year wrote of his career that he stood for “all that is best and noblest in life. For wisdom in statesmanship, purity in politics, integrity in business, progress in education, broad philanthropy, and sincere Christianity, he is a conspicuous figure in history.” 

The red brick Claflin School building on Washington Park in Newtonville opened in 1891. It later became part of Newton Junior College but like many properties in Newton, was turned into condos. A second, more modern Claflin School building opened on Lowell Avenue in 1953 but closed in the 1980s due to low enrollment. That building is now artist studios.